RAINFOREST Alliance, an international non-profit organization working at the intersection of business, agriculture, and forest to make responsible business the new normal has held two days of intensive capacity building for journalists in Accra.
The organization is all about changing the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.
The workshop which was a partnership with Ghana Agriculture and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA) aimed at educating and enlightening journalists about the good work undertaken by Rainforest Alliance in the country especially in the cocoa-growing communities and the hinterland.
The two days workshop Tuesday 2nd – Wednesday 3rd, November 2021, at Mensvic Hotel saw media personnel taken through the four core interventions of Rainforest Alliance.
The core interventions of the Rainforest Alliance are Landscapes and Communities, Reimagining Certification. The supporting interventions are Advocacy and Tailored supply chain services.
At the workshop, journalists were urged to critically examine facts when reporting especially on Rainforest Alliance Certification and activities to farmers.
“Any time the media is reporting on Rainforest Alliance Certification programs, it will actually be something the media should understand; the way the schemes work, the requirements that the farmers need to follow, the benefits farmers gain for joining the scheme”, Mr. Joseph Yaw Mensah, the Senior Associate Training and Certification of Rainforest Alliance said.
Mr. Mensah further commended the good works of the Ghana media; adding that there are some technicalities in the agriculture sector especially, certifications that journalists needed to have in-depth knowledge when reporting on them.
He mentioned that Rainforest Alliance has customer services that are ready to respond to every question and clarification that any media house needs in the discharge of its duties.
ABOUT RAINFOREST ALLIANCE
The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Products bearing the seal originate on–or contain ingredients sourced from–Rainforest Alliance Certified farms or forests.
These farms and forests are managed according to rigorous environmental, social and economic criteria designed to conserve wildlife; safeguard soils and waterways; protect workers, their families and local communities; and increase livelihoods in order to achieve true, long-term sustainability.
For forestry, the Rainforest Alliance auditors evaluate logging companies and other forestry businesses against the globally respected criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which the Rainforest Alliance helped to establish in 1993.
